AN online petition to Dr Mahathir Mohamad, calling for the deportation of controversial Muslim preacher Dr Zakir Naik, has garnered more than 17,000 signatures less than a week after it was posted by a London-based activist.

Farouk A Peru, who is pursuing his doctorate in theology and religious studies, Islam and postmodernity at King’s College, London, started the petition two days after the Sri Lanka bombings, warning of a growing number of Islamofascists in the country.

He warned that if left unchecked, Islamofascists – or a group of Muslims who think that non-Muslims should not exist – would threaten the security and peace of the country.

“I don’t see why Dr Mahathir would want to keep him here. Maybe he wants to increase the support from the conservative groups,” Farouk told The Malaysian Insight via email.

“During BN’s time, Najib (Razak) was afraid to lose the support from the Malays, too,” he said.

Farouk’s petition was posted on change.org two days after last Sunday’s attacks on churches and hotels in Colombo, Sri Lanka, which left about 250 people dead.

“They (Islamofascists) are slowly eroding the harmony of the nation. I think we are facing a very dangerous future,” said the author of Introduction to Quran – An Existential Reading.

In the petition, Farouk said Dr Mahathir should stop the fundamentalist preacher “before it is too late”, singling out Zakir and a local preacher, Firdaus Wong, who is also known for targeting non-Muslims.

Zakir became a subject of investigations in India and Bangladesh after two suspects in a terror attack that left 22 dead in Dhaka in July 2016 said they were inspired by his “radical preaching”.

Last week, Zakir accused the Indian government of a witch hunt, alleging that Interpol was pressured by India to release a red notice alert against him.

So far, Farouk’s petition has garnered more than 17,000 signatures, but he targeting 100,000.

“When it reaches 100,000 we will submit the petition to Dr Mahathir,” he said.

In 2016, India revoked Zakir’s citizenship and declared his Mumbai-based Islamic Research Foundation as an “unlawful association”.

Zakir was also denied entry into Canada and Britain in 2012, after reportedly expressing support for terrorist group al-Qaeda.

Apart from Malaysia, Zakir also has PR status in Saudi Arabia.

On Saturday night, Zakir’s associate, Muhammad Zamri Vinoth Kalimuthu, 35, was detained by Kangar police’s serious crimes unit (D9).

Zamri was arrested after 13 police reports were lodged against him for allegedly insulting Hindu gods. 

He also has three previous crime records, including voluntarily causing hurt, rape and criminal breach of trust.

Zamri has been seen and pictured together with Zakir on many occasions, including at several religious events in the northern state. – April 30, 2019.